Iranian Officials Blame Sabotage for Oil Well Fire in Iran

The incident came after Israel's Mossad chief threatened more covert attacks inside Iran

A fire broke out at an oil well in southwestern Iran on Tuesday, an incident Iranian officials blamed on sabotage.

The blaze occurred at the Shadegan oil field in the southwestern Khuzestan province, which borders Iraq. Ghobad Nasseri, the head of a state-owned oil company, said that the fire was set by “unidentified people” and that it was “immediately brought under control.”

Israel has a history of launching covert attacks on energy infrastructure inside Iran, although Tehran hasn’t attributed blame for Tuesday’s fire. The incident came a day after the head of Israel’s Mossad spy agency threatened more operations inside the Islamic Republic.

Mossad chief David Barnea said that even if the Iran nuclear deal is restored, covert attacks inside Iran would continue. “Even if a nuclear deal is signed it will not give Iran immunity from the Mossad operations,” he said.

Also on Tuesday, Iran said that it arrested several people responsible for the killing of Hassan Sayyad Khodaei, a colonel in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), who was gunned down in Tehran at the end of May. According to anonymous US officials speaking to the media, Israel was responsible for Khodaei’s killing.

Author: Dave DeCamp

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.